Day 44: Halfway There

Origin: Thomas Knob Shelter
Destination: Hurricane Mountain Shelter
Today's miles: 16.0
Total miles: 511.9

We were woken up in the middle of the night by a young woman downstairs in the shelter yelling, "Get away! Guys, it's a bear!" There was a bit of rustling but then things calmed down. Meanwhile, a guy on the loft where we were sleeping searched his bag for his knife, as if that would have helped. Magge told him the woman was just dreaming so that he could stop preparing himself for a kamikaze attack. We found out this morning that some ponies paid our shelter a visit and one stuck his head inside, and the woman assumed the mass in the darkness was a bear. We're hoping the trail name Ponybear sticks (I like The Girl Who Cried Bear, but it's too long).

We were in our sleeping bags until 9am, the latest we've slept in since we started, town days included. It was a nasty morning and the forecast was for a sunny afternoon, so we weren't in a rush. Additionally, the temperature was hovering right above freezing, and it's difficult to accept that in the middle of May. Once we did get going, we had a great day. Cutting yesterday short was a great decision as we had great views throughout the Grayson Highlands. Some parts felt like true alpine areas, with rocky balds and alpine-like vegetation. We also saw more ponies. This section was one of my favorites so far.

The day ended with a bit of a hill that Magge set a blistering pace on and we finished on a high note. She then built a great fire and I set up camp by a stream that should put us straight to sleep. The problem may be staying asleep in these temperatures, as it's supposed to dip below freezing at our elevation.

We hit both the 500 mile mark and the halfway mark today.